The next breakthrough in sustainability probably won’t come from a single company working alone. It could come from a founder with an unconventional idea, a student with a fresh perspective or a corporate partner willing to share a real-world challenge.
After all, groundbreaking innovation rarely happens in isolation.
That was the thinking behind the Play With Purpose Sustainability Hackathon hosted by Cox Enterprises in partnership with Atlanta Tech Week and the Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub. By connecting students with community and corporate partners, the event created opportunities for collaboration, sparked new ideas and gave future innovators hands-on experience addressing complex sustainability issues.
The hackathon was part of Cox’s broader Play With Purpose initiative as an official FIFA World Cup 2026™ Host City Supporter in Atlanta to create lasting community impact beyond the tournament itself. At Cox, we believe our responsibility to do good in the world extends beyond our own walls and into the communities where we live and work. That means investing in entrepreneurs, engaging students, partnering with local organizations and empowering people to help shape a more sustainable future for this generation and the next.
“No single organization can solve sustainability challenges alone,” said Cox’s Head of Atlanta Venture Ecosystem Jack Semrau. “That’s why our approach is to connect corporate leaders, emerging talent and community partners to share ideas, test solutions and accelerate progress through initiatives like this sustainability hackathon.”
More than 300 students representing 34 universities across 15 states gathered in Atlanta to tackle some of today’s most pressing sustainability challenges.
Working across tracks focused on energy, agriculture, city infrastructure, transportation and logistics, circular economy solutions and more, participants spent 72 hours researching, building and refining their ideas, resulting in 43 final project submissions. The teams then presented their solutions to a panel of judges at the historic Biltmore in Midtown Atlanta on June 17.
Winning solutions with real-world potential
For Sagarika Sankar Ganesh, an industrial engineering student at Georgia Tech, her first-ever hackathon exceeded expectations. She won the agriculture track, sponsored by Cox Farms, with FarmFlow, a tool that uses demand forecasting and live USDA data to help small farms make more informed decisions about ordering inputs such as fertilizer and seeds.
“This hackathon let me take what I’ve been learning in school — data analysis, Python, supply chain thinking — and apply it to a real problem in a few days,” she said. “It’s also exactly the kind of work I’m hoping to do after I graduate.”
Other winning teams tackled challenges ranging from textile waste to urban sustainability. Georgia Tech students Kanushi Dua, Sheona Diwakar and Antara Adhera earned top honors in the circular economy challenge track, sponsored by Carter’s, for LittleLoop, a platform designed to keep children’s clothing in use longer and out of landfills. Meanwhile, Samuel Fenderson, Michael Abraham, Omar Arnaout and Aaron Jones won the sustainable urban living track, sponsored by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Sustainability & Resilience, with RetrospectIQ, an AI-powered platform designed to streamline building permits and accelerate energy-efficient upgrades.
Beyond the competition, students said the hackathon gave them an opportunity to experiment with new technologies and learn by doing. “This is my first time using AWS,” said Abraham, a computer science student at Georgia Tech. “I had no idea what I was doing, but it worked after lots of struggle and lots of learning through trial and error. I’m really glad it turned out the way it did.”
Georgia Tech student Stuti Thummala took home the event’s grand prize: tickets to a FIFA World Cup 2026™ match. Her standout project, MaterialOps, is an AI-powered platform designed to help divert waste from landfills through more efficient post-event waste collection.
“The product that I developed has the possibility to create a lot of change in terms of post-event renewable waste collection and it’s extremely scalable,” Stuti said.
The competition stage isn’t new to Thummala. Now entering her third year of college, she’s a two-time Cox Automotive intern who first connected with Cox after winning a hackathon in high school.
“I’ve been doing hackathons for a very long time and my passion is building,” she said. “It just means a lot to me to continue to learn new things and how to implement new technologies into whatever I’m creating.”
In addition to the grand prize, winners from each challenge track will have the opportunity to interview for a spot on the newly launched Cox Cleantech Residency, a program designed to help early-stage innovators turn promising ideas into real-world market solutions. Two of the winning teams, Little Loop and Foresight, will also have the opportunity to pitch their hackathon projects at the TEDxAtlanta Youth event in October 2026.
For many participants, the hackathon offered more than a chance to compete. The event connected students with executive leaders, Cox recruiters, community partners and peers from across Atlanta. As Georgia Tech MBA student Mustafa Zaidi put it, “Sustainability affects the world — and to be at the inception of it, right here in Atlanta, is great, because Atlanta has great minds.”
Investing in people, ideas and innovation
The hackathon is one example of a larger commitment that has guided Cox for generations. As a company that operates and invests in businesses focused on solving real-world challenges, we believe innovation happens when people have the tools, support and opportunities to turn promising ideas into meaningful solutions.
That commitment extends beyond our own businesses. It includes investing in sustainable technologies, supporting entrepreneurs, partnering with community organizations and creating pathways for students and emerging talent to gain the skills and experiences needed to shape the future.
Since 2007, Cox has invested more than $3 billion in sustainable technologies and more than $140 million in Atlanta’s startup ecosystem, helping strengthen the region’s position as a growing hub for entrepreneurship and innovation.
“For over 10 years, we’ve been supporting the Atlanta tech community with programs, capital and community activations,” Semrau said. “Our Play With Purpose hackathon reflects this in the best ways, bringing together founders as mentors, resources from established brands and leveraging our community partners to organize an enriching experience for everyone involved.”
Ready to build what’s next? Explore careers at Cox and learn more about our investments in cleantech and sustainability.